I just re-read my previous post, and it isn't quite as whiny as I was afraid it would be. It's interesting, reading all the articles out there (and there are quite a few) that deal with the issues surrouding Gen Y and the workplace. As a Gen Y, I can tell you that, depending what you're reading, it's not hard to come away from it feeling pretty embarassed of your generation! And some of it is pretty hard to argue with. As a generation, indeed, we are pretty entitled. Not all of us, obviously, but I do know a lot of people who strike me as pretty, well, spoiled. I have an aquaintance who, I think, represents the "average" Gen Y (inasmuch as there is such a thing) pretty well. He has a BA in Political Science, and he graduated almost two years ago with it. He doesn't live at home, but he did get an inheritance from his grandpa's passing that he's used to pay his bills since graduation. His intention is to start a communications business, and he has gone as far as registering the company name and starting a website. Now, he has a job working for a big box retailer. He needed money, and they were hiring. Like so many of us, he graduated at a time when jobs were scarce, and has found himself working a job that pays very little and doesn't utilize that hard-won BA at all. So, when he says he's underemployed, he means it, and he's probably right. On the other hand, the business that he has started is pretty much on hold, because he's finding it difficult to do much work when he has one paying job already.
He finds himself a bit trapped, because he can't quit the job he does have- he needs the money, such as it is, and he feels like he can't find anything he really is qualified for. A common complaint about Gen Y is entitlement- is it really that unreasonable to feel that you should be able to find something better with your BA that you sweated for than your friend who dropped out of high school? But, and it's a big one, just because you feel like you should be able to find something better doesn't mean you don't have to work hard to get there. You want your communications business up and running? Well, then, you'd better be working for it. Start writing- blog. Write book reviews for the newspaper, or just online. Go to your chamber of commerce and volunteer to do some write-ups on locally significant things. Build a portfolio. And guess what? You're going to have to do these things while you work your other job. Or, two years down the road, you'll still be working the same crappy job for the same crappy money, and you'll find yourself no further ahead, because something better isn't just going to magically show up because you deserve it. You get what you work for. And yeah, it'd be nice to go home after work and not have anything else to do but relax and do laundry, but it isn't going to happen. Not if you want something better.
There's a reason I blog, there's a reason I'm on twitter and there's a reason I have my own business cards. None of that is because I'm such an HR nerd, (is there such a thing? Probably,)although I do find HR to be a fascinating field, but because I'm trying to build my reputation, skills and knowledge in order to get the kind of job and the kind of career that I want. It takes time, it takes effort, and you have to be willing to put in the time at the bottom.
Gen Y are not typically known for being willing to put in time at the bottom, but I'd bet that's shifting, if only because the entitlement generation has been facing a crappy job market. Most of the Gen Ys that I know would be quite happy at this point to be able to break into their field at all- bottom or otherwise. I know teachers who work at fast food joints, trying to get onto TOC lists so they can sub once in a while because they know a fulltime position is at least five years away if they can get on the list at all. I know guys with History degrees working minimum wage jobs until they can afford to go back to school again, and I know a lot of folks who live with their parents because they can't afford to move out and still pay off their student loans.
That said, there are always things you can do to make yourself more employable. You may not get paid for them, and they may cut into your free time, but there are always things you can do. So quit whining and get to it!
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